Sally Hansen Insta- Dri Top Coat Review

I took trip down memory lane the other day. I've been playing my Xbox (360- old I know!)  everyday and started looking up the old school gaming systems. I didn't play many games but I used to watch back in the day when my older brother would play. I remember when he was done with whatever system I would get to play some of the games. I was really bad at it but I would definitely start up the game and see what I could do on the Nintendo 64 and Playstation 2. Games like Zelda, Donkey Kong, Mario.... Somehow I ended up looking up most of the games on youtube...did you know there are entire walk throughs for some of the games? It was so nostalgic.  I know somewhere we still have those games and consoles, it would be fun to pull them out just for fun.

Anyway..let's talk top coat.

Sally Hansen claims:

DRY IN 60 SECONDS! GET OUT THE DOOR FAST WITH INSTA-DRI TOP COAT™ FROM SALLY HANSEN.

Our exclusive Acrylic Polymer complex hardens and dries any nail color to the touch in just seconds. And double UV filters help keep color fresh. Use Insta-Dri Top Coat™ for a shiny, super-fast manicure that lasts up to 10 days. Apply nail color. Wait 2 minutes and apply 1 coat of Insta-Dri Top Coat™ for a long-lasting chip-resistant finish. For a mani in a minute, get Insta-Dri Top Coat™!

Back in the day I always had Sally Hansen nail stuff. The nail polishes, nail treatments, but none of them really worked that well for me. I had heard a lot of really great things about the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri topcoats and decided to give it a go. Many people compare it to Seche Vite and Poshe. 

So first off...Sally lies. A lot and often. The claim is it dries in seconds (60 seconds)...not true. It does dry quickly. A couple of minutes before it's completely dry but now that I've had the bottle for a little bit and it's thickened up it takes a bit longer to really dry. But it does dry. No waking up with dents/sheet marks with this one.

When I first started using it I tried to use it like Poshe where you can put a pretty thick coat  and it dries nicely. I had to learn to place thinner coats, that were just thin enough that they didn't drag the polish underneath. Little bit of a learning curve but it's OK.

To my recollection of the other top coats..this one isn't as shiny. It's not dull but it could look glossier/shiny. It also doesn't have that "gel" look that some top coats give.

As far as protection of my nails...I get 1-2 days before it chips. From reviews I've read some people get up to 5 days. It chips quickly. Some top coats you can use and they make the worse polish last a little longer without chipping. This is only as good as the nail polish underneath. 

For my fingernails this is just OK. I've used better. I do like it for a toe nails...no chipping, looks decent for at least two to two and half weeks. Sometimes three if your nail color is high quality. And it stays decently shiny. 

Also...I don't know if I'm painting my nails way more often but the bottle has been disappearing super fast.

Also..it doesn't drag nail stamping.

All that being said, I would buy it again but not to use on my hands. It's reasonably priced and easy to use and widely available.